News

In Germany, the Federal Administrative Court has found the actions of the Chechen who killed two Russian soldiers in an armed conflict to be a war crime.

Unidentified persons shelled a militia post in the Untsukul District of Dagestan and wounded three fighters of the Moscow OMON (special militia).

So far, power agencies could not get on the trail of the militants, who on February 15 twice started skirmishes with Chechen law enforcers in the Gudermes District. In the course of these combat clashes, an officer of the special-purpose MIA regiment was killed, and two more servicemen were wounded. It is supposed that some of searched militants were also wounded.

In the Moskovskaya Street of Nazran, close to the building, which earlier housed the city GUVD (City Interior Department), sappers are now de-mining a self-made bomb.

Nodar Kumaritashvili, a sledge racer from Georgia, who perished on February 12 after an accident in the sledge-bobsleigh track at the Winter Olympiad in Vancouver, will be buried on Saturday, February 20, in Bakuriani.

As reported by Igor Chestin, head of the Russian representative office of the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), Russian ecologists have suspended their cooperation with the State Corporation (SC) "Olympstroy", in charge of preparing the Sochi Olympiad-2014, because their joint decisions on protection of the regional ecosystems are not fulfilled. The "Olympstroy" treats the ecologists' demarche as a complete surprise. In the opinion of the builders, ecologists "have taken a non-constructive stand" and mislead the public.

On February 15, the court session of the Meschanskiy District Court of Moscow for considering the suit lodged by Shamil Sheikhov, a resident of Makhachkala, on protection of his honour, dignity and business reputation against Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Chairman of the LDPR (Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia) and Deputy of the State Duma, and against the editorial board of the newspaper "LDPR", did not take place because of the absence of the respondent. Shamil Sheikhov himself told about it to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The decision of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov to recall his claim against "Novaya Gazeta" was a surprise for the lawyer Andrei Krasnenkov, who represented his interests in the court of Moscow. In his turn, Vyacheslav Izmailov, a journalist of "Novaya Gazeta", believes that the open litigation, initiated by Kadyrov, could have drawn attention of the public to kidnappings in Chechnya.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) of Russia is dissatisfied with the way its opinion in taken into account in ecological support of Olympiad-2014 in Sochi; while the State Corporation (SC) "Olympstroy" emphasizes that the requirements to Olympic objects meet the experience of foreign countries as regards ecological construction.

Law enforcement bodies of the Chechen Republic refute information about huge losses among peaceful citizens as a result of the militaries' operation near the Ingush village of Arshty. According to the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), in the Sunzha District of Ingushetia four residents of the Achkhoy-Martan District of Chechnya were lost and one more is considered to be missing.

Inspectors managed to identify 16 out of 22 persons who perished as a result of a combat clash in the Sunzha District of Ingushetia.

From 10 a.m. today, residents of high-rise apartment blocks adjacent to the Akushinskiy Avenue in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, began blocking the avenue in protest against regular water and electricity cut-offs.

Members of the oppositional People's Republican Party of Turkey have brought a point to the parliament's agenda on the three Turks convicted in Switzerland for negating the genocide of Armenians.

In the evening on February 15, the Yasamal District Court of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, ruled to arrest four believers, detained by the police during dispersal of the unauthorized action last Saturday, on February 13, for the term of two months.

The majority of the members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom have voted for recognition of the fact of genocide against Armenians and Assyrians in the territory of the Ottoman Turkey.

The Basmanny Court of Moscow has stopped proceedings on the claim of President of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov against the "Novaya Gazeta", as the claimant recalled his.

Today, the Taganka Court of Moscow has found Sergey Hadjikurbanov, earlier acquitted on Anna Politkovskaya's murder case, guilty of extorting 350,000 US dollars and sentenced him to eight years of imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that Elmar Mamedyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, has stated that Azerbaijan accepts, in general, the updated version of the "Madrid Document" on Karabakh settlement. This version was presented to Azerbaijan and Armenia by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the countries-co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - US, Russia and France - at the OSCE summit in Athens last December.

In Astrakhan, the Kirov Regional Court has released on bail two employees of the city UVD (Interior Department) suspected of beating a confession out of a citizen. Their four colleagues are under recognizance not to leave.

The high accident rate persists in the roads of Chechnya. In January, the republic saw 20 large road accidents, where ten persons, including two children, were lost. Many residents of the republic believe that the reasons of the complicated situation are in the very system, while the STSI (State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, known in Russia as "GIBDD") needs serious reforming.